text:
Story takes place after the Pein fight
After the fight with Pein Naruto was sent to an underground cabin only used for the Hokages and sometimes the clan heads when their clan compounds were unavailable. Naruto and Tsunade were the only two there at the moment though. Their room were far from each other so they could rest. But Tsunade woke up a few days later so she joined the other's with the rebuilding and healing the injured ninja for. Kakashi had ordered Sakura to be Naruto's private nurse for the duration of his stay. As for the civilians, they had the ANBU and hospital staff working around the clock to help get everyone healthy and organized. just like Naruto, Hinata had a special room for Hyuuga's so she was sent there to get healed.
Sakura was glad that Naruto was going to be okay. She would have been by his for the last couple of days even if Kakashi hadn't ordered her too. During that time Sakura remembered all the time's Naruto had saved her. It was hard to believe that the dead-last that everybody (excluding Hinata) thought was a failure, saved them all from certain doom, and in most cases, death. She thought about how he promised to bring Sasuke back. And now that she thought of it, Why did she like him in the first place? Yes, he was cool back then, but he broke her heart and joined Orochimaru. She came to a sudden realization that she didn't care for him any longer, she hadn't cared for a while now in fact. She had someone new, someone who would risk his life to make her happy. Protect her with his life. A good man. Even though they both were sixteen Naruto acted with more maturity than half the adult she knew at times, and he did still have that crush on her, at least, she hoped he did.
This could be her chance to have him before he changes his mind about her and get's with another girl. She'd seen Hinata naked before when they both went to the hot springs a few years ago and the twelve year old Hinata STILL, to this day, beat her in the breast department. Now though, Hinata had a better body and way bigger breast than she did, or ever would have. She was half way to a C- cup but Hinata was almost bigger than a D- cup. And she remembered that she confessed to Naruto. so he might fall for Hinata instead of her. So had to hurry and clam him as her's before any girl had the chance. So she came up with a good idea to do just that.
'Okay, I hope this works. If it does Hinata or the others won't stand a chance against me. Naruto you will be mine!' Sakura thought about if for a second before adding. 'Then again, knowing his stamina I may have to share. Or he'll put ME in the hospital.' She thought with a grin.
Before she went to check up on him. She went into one of the room's where she found a nurse uniform. She had forgotten hers at home so she grabbed the best one they had and got dressed.
'Hmmm, it's a little snug.' She thought before checking the mirror. Only to pause when she saw herself. This was one of the old nurse outfits! And it was a size too small! They took this kind of outfit out of circulation because it was to… revealing. The nurses were hounded by the male patients constantly so they switched to the ones they had now.
'This is perfect! He won't even be able to speak when he sees me! I'll make sure he won't even remember his own name when I'm done with him!' Sakura finished her thought with an evil chuckled that would have send Madara himself running with his tail between his legs.
With that decided she started for his room. Time to initiate operation: Fuck Naruto back into unconsciousness!
_-_-_-_-_Naruto's room_-_-_-_-_
Naruto was starting to finally wake up after so many days in the cabin. When he fully woke up she looked around.
Sakura, who was peeking through a crack on the door, took advantage of his confusion, and decided to eye him up while he was getting his bearings. He was in a shirt and boxers. Perfect.
'Where am I? And where is everyone at? How long have I been out for? Might as well wait till someone comes I guess.' thought Naruto
Naruto only had to wait a few seconds for the doorknob on his door to turn, when the door swung open Sakura strutted into the room. Naruto was shocked, Sakura was wearing a skimpy Nurse outfit. It was an all white uniform with the leaf symbol on the hat, the skirt was real short, and it showed off an indecent amount of cleavage. Not that there was much to begin with, but it certainly accentuated what she already had.
'This should get him going. No one's going to be here for the rest of the week and by that time we both should be done.' Sakura thought.
"Naruto your finally awake! Sakura said as she ran to him, and gave him a big hug. Naruto looked down to see her shirt covered breasts at the bursting point. In fact he eyed the quaking button holding her top together warily, if that the sprang off it could but his eye out!
"Is something wrong?" asked Sakura.
"No. Nothing's wrong. So how long have I been out and where am I?.
"It's been a week since the fight and we're in an underground cabin just outside the leaf village. This place is only used for certain people. Like the Hokage, and sometimes the Shinobi council when their clan compounds are unavailable."
"Oh, alright then. Ouch! Exclaimed Naruto holding his stomach.
"Are you okay? Need any painkiller?" Sakura asked, slightly worried.
"No, I'm okay, it's just my stomach. I guess I didn't fully heal when I was asleep. Naruto reasoned.
"Well lay down and I'll heal you right up. said Sakura in a chipper tone.
"Okay Sakura-chan." He answered.
Naruto took off his shirt and laid in the bed. Closing his eyes he absently wondered why the Kyuubi didn't heal this injury. Normally his wounds only took a day or two to heal. so why did these particular injuries take so long?
'Plus, why is Sakura acting so weird? he thought, noticing she was taking her sweet time adjusting her ass as she sat in his lap.
Sakura's hand started to heal glow green as she started to heal him. While Naruto had his eyes closed, Sakura was looking at Naruto with his shirt off. His big muscles and great chest caused Sakura to almost start drooling. She had to put her plan into action. Now.
"Naruto can I tell you something" Sakura asked sounding slightly nervous.
Naruto opened his eyes and said "Sure Sakura-chan, anything."
"Well first, I want to thank you for saving the village, you're a hero Naruto. When you came back from the fight the village already wanted to make a statue in your honor. and secondly, the fact is that I don't care for Sasuke any more, I've grown up, and realized how childish my crush on him was. I've found someone better. You. I care about you now. And I'm sorry it took me this long to realize how much you meant to me." She confessed.
"…"- but before he could even begin to think of what to say to her Sakura stopped healing him and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips.
"That was for always being true to your word, and this is for saving the village. She said as she gave Naruto another kiss, this time putting more of her feelings for him into it.
"Sakura, are you sure about this? Naruto inquired.
"I'm sure Naruto. It took me a long time to realize this, but, I love you. I know that when we get you all healed up and back to the village that there will be other girls wanting you. But I want to have you first, who knows I might even share you." Sakura finished with a flirty wink.
"Well let's enjoy the time we have then." He finished with his trademark grin as she got off took off him so he could take his shirt and boxers off. while Sakura took off the uniform and pushed Naruto's back onto the bed.
Once Naruto was on his back Sakura slowly sat down on top of him and lined up his cock in her pussy. "Naruto I want this so much. Please Naruto let's make love." said Sakura as she slipped the head of his cock in her pussy and slammed herself down on his cock. Having broken her hymen years ago during Tsunade's training the pain was minimal.
Sakura started a steady rhythm of up and downs while Naruto palmed her plump ass. "Naruto, more! Oh God, ah, ah, Oh God my pussy's on fire! Naruto, fuck me. Oh God! Ah, ah, more! Touch my breasts; they want to feel your touch." Exclaimed Sakura between pants.
Naruto grabbed one breast and started to suck on her nipple. He grabbed her other breast with his free hand and started pinching the nipple. "Sakura you're so fucking hot. Faster, I can feel your hot pussy. I want you to cum all over my cock. Naruto managed to say before he grabbed her ass and started bouncing it faster, thrusting up at the same time.
"Naruto more! I'm almost there! Your cock feels so good! Fuck my pussy harder. I'm almost there! Hurry Naruto! Oh God. Deeper! Ah, ah, ah, Oh God! I'm Cumming! Shouted Sakura as she had the hardest orgasm of her life. Naruto gave a few more quick thrusts as he bottomed out inside her and released his load into her waiting womb. Extending Sakura's orgasm a few more seconds.
"That felt so good Sakura. I hope you didn't think I was gonna be satisfied with just one round did you?" Said a grinning Naruto switched positions. so now Sakura was on the bottom and Naruto was on the top.
"More. Fuck me more! I'll do anything you want. Just fuck my pussy raw!" Half-shouted Sakura as she opened her legs to show Naruto her pussy, still dripping with both their love juices. Naruto then grabbed her waist and rammed his cock in her pussy, hammering away at full speed.
"Sakura your pussy is so good! I can't stop. your just too sexy." said Naruto as he slammed in and out of her pussy.
"Naruto more, faster, harder! Oh, ah, ah. fuck me, fuck me rough! Oh God faster!" She was openly screaming at this point. She grabbed the bed rails so Naruto could fuck her faster. "Naruto fuck me til I can't cum anymore! Until I can't move! Oh God! Cum in me! Fill me to the brim!"
"Sakura I gonna cum." grunted Naruto.
Me too. let's cum together." Moaned out Sakura as they both came. Naruto Shot six times before he pulled out, another 2 spurts came out and hit her breasts.
"Sorry about that Sakura. I thought I was done." Naruto sheepishly admitted while rubbing the back of his head.
"No worries Naruto. Now let me suck you off." Said Sakura as she got on her knees, grabbing his long 12 inch cock with one hand she engulfed the first few inches in her hot, wet mouth and messaged this balls with the other hand.
"Go faster my little nurse slut." Moaned Naruto.
Sakura didn't even care that Naruto called her a slut. For him, it was true. So she would let Naruto call her whatever he wanted, in private, of course. Sakura licked the bottom of his cock first and when she got to the tip she kissed it. Putting it in her mouth Sakura started to suck hard and fast.
"Sakura. Deeper. Suck faster you bitch I want to cum all over your face." Naruto grabbed her by the hair and forced his cock down the back of her throat. Unfortunately he was only able to get six inches in without hurting her. And while she seemed to be enjoying being used like a whore he was still rather new to sex. "Almost… there." groaned out Naruto as he sped up his thrusting for a few seconds before erupting in her throat. Holding his cock where it was most of his seed went down her throat causing her to choke. It became too much for her to shallow and some of his seed splashed onto her face and dripped onto her breasts.
"Damn Sakura. You sure like sucking my cock don't you?" Gasped out Naruto, commenting on the fact that she didn't resist at all when he started face-fucking her?
"Yes. I do Naruto. It's a good thing you're already trapped in this hospital bed or else I would have had to break into your apartment and raped you. Gotta make up for lost time after all." Sakura finished with a lusty grin.
"Get on the bed and get on all fours. You said to fuck you until you couldn't cum any more so I want to fuck that nice ass of yours till you can't even think about moving without feeling sore. Hurry up my cute little cum dumpster." He said as she got up.
Naruto smacked her ass as she get on all fours and spread her ass cheeks wide open for him.
"Now Sakura, before I fuck your ass, tell me how hard you want it." Naruto ordered as he put his cock near her asshole, and robbed it around the entrance, teasing her until she did what he said.
"I want it hard! Fuck my ass till I can't feel my legs anymore. I want you to stick your long hard fat dick into my little ass. Fuck me hard and long until your balls are empty. Make me your bitch, I'm yours Naruto. So please Naruto, stick it in already! I don't care if I start screaming in pain! Just fuck my ass as hard as you possibly can!" She pleaded, practically vibrating with lust and excitement.
"Okay then slut, when I'm fucking your ass I want you to thank me for giving it to you so roughly." Naruto said right next to her ear.
It was a little difficult to put the massive head into her small ass but the juices from the sex they had a second ago helped tremendously. Before Sakura could plead to put it in faster she was cut off by him succeeding in getting the head in. taking her words to heart Naruto gave no mercy as as soon as he was able he rammed all the way into her tight ass, drawing a scream of one part pain and two parts pleasure from her. His hips resting against her ass cheeks for a second before he pulled all but the head out and slammed back in. after a few thrusts he abandoned any form of rhythm and was slamming in and out of her with reckless abandon.
"Oh God! My ass! Fuck me harder! Oh God, deeper. Ah, oh, ah, ah, ah, Oh God fuck my Ass. Oh God, your huge cock! I can feel it, it's in me so deep! I'm your whore! Thank you Naruto for fucking my ass so hard!"
"That's a good slut, next time we get a mission we're going fuck first thing before we go. I want to see in filled with my cum every time we leave the gates! said Naruto as he spanked her ass.
"Naruto, I gonna cum." Sakura moaned weakly.
"Oooh no, you don't cum till I tell you too. Hold it in, the longer I fuck you the harder your orgasms going to be."
As he went even faster with a quick application of some chakra she shoved her face into the pillows. Not even having the strength to grab the bed rails again. Naruto didn't stop, Not even for a second, he only thrust harder and faster as the minutes ticked by.
Sakura couldn't take it anymore. "Naruto! Please I need to cum! I can't take anymore!"
Naruto ignored her and continued slamming into her, making sure that she'd be begging for more the next time she got horny.
Naruto bent down and whispered into her ear. "You've earned it Sakura-Chan, let it go whenever you want."
And she did, with a mighty scream Sakura had the greatest orgasm yet, topping the one earlier by far. Naruto, feeling a now familiar pressure building up used a bit more chakra and sped up thrust thrusts to inhuman levels. After a few seconds of this he slammed into her ass with bruising force and released the biggest load of the night into her rectum.
Sakura, out of energy, simply flopped down on the bed. She silently thanked Naruto when he picked her up and put her beside him so she could rest her head on his shoulder.
"Damn, that was wonderful. Even better the how I'd picture losing my virginity" At this she mustered all her remaining strength and gave Naruto another kiss. "You sure know how to satisfy a woman." She commented as he pulled up the blankets to cover them both.
"You were excellent too. Well then, we'd better get some rest, my naughty little Nurse might need some more medicine before we check out."
"Sounds good, *yawn* but don't call me names like that in public Okay? Only when we're alone." She barely said the last sentence before she lost the downhill battle against her increasingly heavy eyelids.
"No problem Sakura-chan." He said, kissing her on the forehead and smiling at her lovingly before he too, fell to sleeps embrace.
End of chapter


text:
Feb. 2
SOM Draft Strategic Plan Review
This plan is the product of over a year of work on the part of faculty and administrators across the medical school. Our consulting team interviewed over 70 leaders across the campus for their perspectives on the state of the SOM and on the key challenges and opportunities facing us.
The Joint UNC-NCSU Rehabilitation Engineering Center Pilot Grant Program Makes First Two Awards
The Rehabilitation Engineering Center announces the awards of two pilot grants totaling $50K to facilitate collaboration between UNC and NCSU faculty for attaining larger grants, and to foster collaboration between undergraduate engineers at NCSU/UNC and Health Sciences students at UNC. These two grants will foster advancement of clinically relevant rehabilitation engineering research.
"Miss Representation" Film Screening and Discussion
UNC Eating Disorders Program is hosting a FREE screening of "Miss Representation," a documentary by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, as part of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week.
CGIBD Thursday Research Seminar Series
Lola M. Reid, PhD, will present at the Thursday, Feb. 2 CGIBD Research Seminar Series.
Save the Date: 2012 Spinal Cord Injury Conference
The conference will include multidisciplinary lectures and hands-on labs, a panel of speakers including community members living with SCI, and vendor exhibits.
Acute Surgical Management Following Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury
Please plan to attend our PM&R Grand Rounds/Guest Lecture. Eldad Hadar, MD, Associate Professor, UNC Neurosurgery, will speak on "Acute Surgical Management Following Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury" on Feb. 8.
Joint UNC-NCSU BME and Rehabilitation Engineering Center Seminar
Rohan A. Shirwaiker, PhD, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, will present, "A Prophylactic Antimicrobial System using Electrically Activated Silver Ions for Assistive Rehabilitation Devices."
Call for faculty advisors for the Larry Keith Advisory College
Are you a faculty member who enjoys working with medical students? Are you interested in making a difference? The Larry Keith Advisory College, an advising and career and professional development program established in 2008, is looking for the right individuals to join this dynamic group.
Children's Supportive Care Consult Service now available
The Pediatric Palliative Care Committee would like to announce the availability of the Children's Supportive Care Consult Service. This interdisciplinary team is headed up by its Medical Director, Elisabeth Dellon, MD, MPH.
'Summer project' lands on cover of Nature Genetics
A good summer project can be a great way for father and son to bond. Google the phrase "father-son summer project" and you'll find examples of fathers and sons doing things together such as planting a garden, restoring an old truck or building a computer.
Research Ethics Grand Rounds
The topic will be, "Beyond the Bombshell: Henry Beecher's 1966 article, 'Ethics and Clinical Research' Revisited" presented by Susan Lederer, PhD, Medical History & Bioethics, University of Wisconsin.
Joint UNC-NCSU BME Rehabilitation Engineering Center Seed Grant Program
The UNC-NCSU Rehabilitation Engineering Pilot Grant Program was established to facilitate collaboration between UNC and NCSU faculty for attaining larger grants, and to foster collaboration between undergraduate engineers at NCSU/UNC and Health Sciences students at UNC.
The Use of Medication Data Standards and Ontologies to Support Knowledge Discovery from Health Care Data Sets
Goals of the NIH Roadmap initiative include the harmonization of clinical and research data as well as the use of data standards throughout the research process.
Rogue Wireless Access Points Not Allowed on UNC Network
ITS has begun to actively seek out rogue consumer devices such as Linksys, D-Link, Belkin, Apple AirPort, etc. and will block them from the network when detected.
Network Access Control is coming to MacNider and Brinkhous-Bullitt buildings on Monday, February 6th!
OIS, together with ITS, will be activating Network Access Control (NAC) in these buildings. If prompted, please follow the steps to download and install the NAC agent onto your computer to get access to the network. Only devices that are "wired" to connect to the network will be affected. Wireless devices will not be affected. If you have questions or concerns please go to http://help.med.unc.edu or 962-HELP to chat to a technician. For more information on please go to http://help.med.unc.edu/nac.
Local Film Premier of "Neurotypical": Chapel Hill TEACCH Fundraiser
The local premiere of NEUROTYPICAL, directed by Adam Larsen, will take place Feb. 11 at 10 a.m. and again on Feb. 25, at 10 a.m. at the Carolina Theatre in Durham. Proceeds will benefit persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their families.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
| 1.6°C Dublin
RYAN Giggs insists he is in no rush to decide whether he will extend his stellar career by another season.
The 39-year-old Manchester United man was criticised for his early season performances, leading to strong suggestions that he would call time on the most decorated career in English football history at the end of the season.
United's move for Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha appeared to be another sign of an imminent vacancy.
However, Giggs' form over the last few weeks has been a throwback to days of old and his performance against West Ham on Wednesday was good enough to earn him yet another man-of-the-match award.
Alex Ferguson has no doubts the veteran Welshman could play on next season. But Giggs is happy to delay that call for a few months.
"I am not thinking about my contract at the moment," he said. "It is like previous seasons, I am quite relaxed about it. I am just enjoying my football. There are so many crucial games at the moment, I am not too bothered about what is happening next year. I feel good, though.
"Obviously the manager knows how to look after me and I try and look after myself as best I can, which you have to at this age.
"I am not going to play every game but I have to be ready and prepared when called upon."
Ferguson must now ponder what, if any, role Giggs will play in Sunday's visit to Tottenham.
He also needs to decide who will take United's next penalty after Wayne Rooney's dismal effort in midweek. United have now failed with five spot-kicks this term, one more than they have scored.
Rooney is responsible for two of them, and has now missed 10 throughout his Red Devils career.
Yet Giggs insisted the England striker could still be trusted. "Players sometimes go through these types of spells," he said.
"(I remember) Ruud van Nistelrooy missing three on the trot. Not many people remember that but I certainly do. The fourth one he stepped up, buried it and probably didn't miss one again.
"Wayne is our penalty taker. He will be disappointed because he is a goalscorer who wants to score goals.
"But I am sure if we get another, he will take it."


text:
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Mark Ruffalo
Actor | Producer | Soundtrack
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Mark Ruffalo was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to Marie Rose (Hebert), a stylist and hairdresser, and Frank Lawrence Ruffalo, a construction painter. His father's ancestry is Italian, and his mother is of half French-Canadian and half Italian descent. Mark moved with his family to Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he lived out most of his teenage ... See full bio »
Born:in Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA
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text:
OK. I have to admit that I am a huge slider fan. Sliders are smaller sized hamburgers on smaller buns and 2oz patties.
But sliders do not have to be burgers. I made salmon sliders last night.
When thinking sliders, think of your favorite "bun" sandwich, but in miniature.
Slider sandwich ideas:
-Fry chicken breast with ranch dressing or white gravy
-Steak with crumpled blue cheese
-Buffalo Chicken Slider (chicken breast with Franks Redhot w/ranch or blue cheese dressing
-Shrimp Paw boys
-The Slider Club: Turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato (avocado optional)
-Corn beef Rueben
-Salmon Slider: poached salmon with cumber dill yogurt sauce
-Mini meatball sub slider: Turkey, beef or pork meatballs with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and fresh basil
-Pulled Pork with hot slaw
-Grilled Mushrooms w/goat cheese and balsamic reduction
-Crab Cake with spicy mayo
-Fried Fish w/ tarter
Vegan Sliders:
-Baked tofu w/vegan slaw
-Grill mushrooms with teriyaki sauce and pickled veggies
-Pan fried vegan risotto cakes with spicy vegan mayo
-Vegan sloppy Joes: Saute crumpled silken tofu w/thinned BBQ sauce
-Tempura Slider: Mix veggies tempura (sweet potato, potato, carrot, onion, mushroom) with asian dipping sauce. (1/3 miron, 1/3 tamari soy, lime juice and water or dashi both, minced ginger)
-Peanut butter, banana and maple (dust with cinnamon)
I have been thinking about offering slider buns at my both at the Westside Farmers Market to create a cross promotion with McLaughlin Farm who sells beef at the market.
So last night I tested a recipe that turned out well. Look for them at the Westside Market on Thursday 3:00-7:00PM while they last.
Slider Bun Recipe: Makes 16 slider buns (or 8 full size)
3 1/2 cups AP Flour (King Arthur or Bob's Redmill or use Bread Flour)
3/4 to 1 cup water
2 tablespoons butter (melted)
(For vegan option use olive oil or melted vegan shorten)
1 large egg
2 TBS sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon instant yeast
Plus 2 TBS melted butter to brush
(For vegan use olive oil or melted vegan shorten)
Sesame seeds (optional)
Mix the yeast, flour, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl of a mixer with dough hook attachment. With the mixer running, add the egg, melted butter and slowly pour in the water. Mix in high for about eight minutes.
Place the dough in a bowl and coat little with olive oil. Cover with plastic or a damp towel and let set in a warm place for 2 hours or until the dough doubled in size.
Punch the dough down and place on a clean counter. Cut the dough into 16 equal pieces.
Mine dough came out to 28oz, which figured out to approximately 1.75oz (using a digital scale) per roll, which comes to 16 rolls.
Roll the dough into rounds balls and flatten them into disks. See below.
Place them on sheet pan lined with parchment and cover with a damp clothe and let them rise for about an hour. Don't worry if the touch a little.
Brush with melted butter, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes.


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DeKALB – The DeKalb City Council is considering whether to require all existing Greek housing to install fire sprinklers by Jan. 1, 2019.
But first, they'll have to define "Greek housing."
The definition of Greek housing under state law that underpins the ordinance leaves itself open to interpretation, said City Attorney Dean Frieders.
The Greek Housing Fire Safety Act defines it as "a structure that provides housing for members of a social fraternity or sorority ... at a public or private institution of higher education."
The definition is vague to the point where a single unit in an apartment complex housing a fraternity or sorority member could be defined as Greek housing, and thus might require fire sprinklers to be installed.
"If you put letters on the outside of your house, is that Greek housing?" Fire Chief Eric Hicks said. "That's what the council needs to decide."
Northern Illinois University has 44 Greek organizations, with 28 of them occupying some kind of house or apartment building. Six of these houses already have fire sprinkler systems; a seventh house has a partial system.
Only the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has more Greek organizations and Greek houses than NIU. All 63 houses have had sprinklers since at least 2009.
The other public universities that DeKalb looked at – Illinois State University, Eastern Illinois University, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and Western Illinois University – are moving at different rates to require sprinkler systems.
Fire sprinklers also were installed at the 29 Greek housing structures at Northwestern University. But Northwestern is a private university, and as a result, it falls under the code requirements of the city of Evanston. As of 2009, all Greek houses at NU had to have fire sprinklers installed.
NIU is unique in that there are a number of fraternities and sororities that have been moving into apartment complexes, with each member signing individual leases as opposed to one master lease governing all of them.
At the City Council meeting Monday, city staff asked for direction from the council on the issue. Frieders said the council needs to decide this issue, as trying to enforce the law as it is written would be incredibly difficult.
"It is setting us up for conflicts with property owners," Frieders said.
Mayor Kris Povlsen said in an interview that he thinks only houses that are owned and/or managed by Greek organizations should be considered Greek housing. He added that he does not consider apartment complexes being rented out by Greeks as being Greek housing.
One potential hurdle might be the cost of installing the sprinkler system. While it would cost nothing for the city, property owners might have to pay $1.50 to $2 per square foot for a sprinkler system. But the water system at a particular house might not be enough, and installing a new one could be another $10,000 to $20,000.
Hicks said the Public Works Department is examining the water service at each of the rooming houses NIU Greeks occupy in order to determine if they would need another system.
First Ward Alderman David Jacobson expressed concern at the meeting that installing sprinkler systems at some of these houses could cost between $85,000 and $100,000. Hicks said adding a sprinkler system at $2.50 a square foot in a 8,000 square-foot house would only be $20,000.
"We are very cognizant of the cost of this," Hicks said. "But we also have to look at what is safe for our students and residents."
Fourth Ward Alderman Brendon Gallagher suggested having a subsidy for property owners to help pay for the sprinkler system. Povlsen said he was also concerned by the costs, but he added that he would not vote against the ordinance simply because of that.
The City Council is scheduled to discuss the issue at their Monday meeting.


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By Chris Wright
"Hey Juan! Long time, no see!"
CONMEBOL have intervened and sent one of Peru's players from the ongoing South American U20 Championships in Argentina over allegations that he may actually be a 25-year-old bloke from Ecuador!
Max Barrios was registered for Peru's tournament squad, but South American football's governing body are currently investigating that the player may actually be Juan Carlos Espinosa, 25, from Ecuador after being tipped off by Ecuadorian officials who his face during the recent group game between the two countries.
CONMEBOL spokesman Nestor Benitez said: "The latest information we have is that Barrios is returning to Lima to explain his situation to the Peruvian Football Federation."
The Ecuadorian FA claim that 'Barrios' was actually born in 1987 in Machala, Ecuador, who played for a succession of Ecuadorian teams before 'disappearing' from their records in 2012, only to resurface in the Peru U20 squad.
The player's father, Angel Barrios, is denying that his son has done anything wrong, instead claiming that Max has dual citizenship having been born to an Ecuadorian mother then moved to live with his Dad in Peru at the age of six when his parents split up.
Said Barrios Snr:
"My son hasn't done anything bad, he simply has dual nationality and decided to play for Peru. I have a birth certificate which is formal and legal.
"He was born in 1995. I have all the papers in order."
Yes, and we bet they're all written in blue Crayola on the back of a rib shack napkin.


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Summer Commitment
Register editorial from July 1 issue.
Summer is a time for family barbecues and vacations, and some Catholics will use the opportunity to join pilgrimages and youth ministry conferences.
But as much as we welcome the shift in daily patterns that comes with summer, we can't afford to put the defense of religious freedom on hold until Labor Day.
At press time, the U.S. Supreme Court had not yet ruled on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. But it's reasonable to expect that the high court's ruling will define the next chapter in the battle for religious freedom in the United States.
Yet, our concerns about the health-care bill should not distract us from the First Amendment challenge posed by the campaign to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act — recently overturned in a Massachusetts federal court house — and the continued effort to legalize same-sex "marriage" throughout the nation.
In New York, which legalized same-sex "marriage" in 2011, a same-sex couple filed suit June 19 against two Catholic hospitals, challenging their policy of denying health-care coverage to partners in nontraditional unions.
In a June 21 speech marking the Fortnight for Freedom, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia noted that the Church was a particular target of attacks by special interests because of its consistent "teaching on the dignity of life and human sexuality … rooted not just in revelation, but also in reason and natural law."
But he also noted that U.S. Catholics were late to take up the fight for religious freedom, and they must tarry no further.
Our complacency, he said, reflected a superficial faith in need of fortification. "We live in a world of illusions when we lose sight of who Jesus Christ really is and what he asks from each of us as disciples."


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A Ceratopsian Depiction at an early 1800's Hindu Temple?
"The famous temple of Muktinath lies in the district of Mustang and is situated 48 km north east of Jomsom at an altitude of about 3749 meters (12,300 feet) above sea level. The temple is situated on a high mountain range and is visited during fair weather.
During the festival of Janai Purnima, Hindu devotees gather here to pay homage to lord Muktinath. The visitors get lodging facilities at Dharmasala and Maharani Pouwa. Another famous temple of Jwaladevi, the goddess of flame, is situated about hundred meters south of Muktinath.
The Muktinath Temple was consecrated in 1815 A.D by Queen Subarna Prabha, the wife of Rana Bahadur Shah. This temple is built in a Tibetan pagoda style and contains huge brass idols of Lord Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma and Kali. The local name for Muktinath is Chumig Gyatsa.
Both Hindus and Buddhists have visited Muktinath – Chumig Gyatsa for hundreds of years and this place reflects a unique blend of Hinduism and Buddhism. Muktinath geographically speaking is a high valley located on the Mustang Bhote region."
....Source: Pilgrimage Tours
On a wall of the temple are 108 "dragon headed" fountains which pilgrims seek out to "cleanse" themselves. Actually, the heads are variously described as; dragons or bulls.
At least one of the heads, as seen here on the left in this photo, is not a dragon or a bull, but instead is an excellent likeness of a ceratopsian dinosaur.
Ceratopsian Headed Fountain. One in partial black and white for contrast. Source: WIRED2THEWORLD.COM. The Jomsom Trek.
The Ceratopsians
The ceratopsians first appeared in Early Cretaceous Asia and soon branched into two successful Laurasian families. The predominantly Asian Protoceratopsidae were comparatively primitive forms that were usually hornless or, at most, in possession of a small nasal horn. While staying small, they became exceedingly abundant in places like the arid plains of Mongolia..... FURCICERATOPSIDAE
The furciceratopsids form the largest family of Asian ceratopsians, with over a dozen species, ranging from small forest dwellers to the giant megahorns. They have generalised dentition, a large narrow nasal horn or series of hornlets and prominent jugal spikes. Most have spiny or stud-like osteoderms set in their scaly hide. They tend to be unfussy feeders, eating any greenery they can easily get to.
...Indian megahorns, the largest living furciceratopsids, range from eastern India to the shores of the South China Sea. Females and young live in small herds whilst adult males are usually solitary. Their preferred habitat is grassland and open areas in forests, usually close to a watercourse where they wallow and bathe. Its powerful beak can demolish even the toughest of plants....Bowdoin.edu
Wrong About the Ceratopsians Trunk
Back on page 20, we were pretty giddy about "discovering" that the ceratopsians actually had trunks similar to that of an elephant's. However, while remaining convinced that the sculpture on page 20 represents knowledge of a living ceratopsian dinosaur, we now believe that the trunk on the animal simply reflected a penchant for artists of that region. We discovered quite a few trunked "dragons" while perusing the art of the Nepal region.
Clearly this "pre-ceratopsian discovery" dinosaur is without a trunk. The term dinosaur was coined in the mid 1800's and the first ceratopsian dinosaur fossil was "discovered", around 1872. Needless to say, the early drawings of that first ceratopsian were not nearly as accurate as is this sculptured "dragon headed" fountain at Muktinath.
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Please Support the Research of S8int.com!
Since 2002, Chris Parker has done the majority of the research and writing of articles for s8int.com. If this site has been an encouragement to you, please donate to support Chris's ongoing research. (S8int.com is not incorporated and your donations may not be tax deductable.)


text:
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Grooming services using only Natural products.


text:
Nick Kristof's piece decrying the distance between academia and the rest of society has, predictably, triggered a screaming firestorm in academia. That's what you get when you poke the (over)educated, seriously literate beast. A lot of the criticism is very well written and thought out (outstanding examples here and here). But I fear that Kristof's central message, that society needs a more engaged academia, is getting lost here. My main problem was not that Kristof was arguing for a more engaged academy, but that his prescriptions for how to bring about that engagement did not address the real incentives and barriers that academics negotiate when they try to engage with public debate.
So, in the interest of constructive criticism, I have some suggestions for things that Mr. Kristof might consider looking into – throwing a light on these challenges would actually serve to highlight the real, and often absurdly unnecessary, barriers between the academy and society. This is obviously just a tiny sample of potential topics, drawn from my own experiences in a top-tier department in a large, Research-1 state institution.
- Examine the system by which departments are "ranked" in the United States: The National Research Council (NRC) ranks departments at (not so) regular intervals, creating a sort of BCS ranking of departments, with about the same amount of accuracy and certainty. By and large, academics know these rankings are garbage, but administrations love to trot them out to demonstrate the excellence of their institution, and therefore justify the institutional budget/tuition/etc. But here's a fun fact: if you dig into what counts in the rankings, you can quickly see why university administrations don't necessarily care for academic outreach. For example, did you know that authoring an NRC report (which is seriously prestigious) DOES NOT COUNT AS A MEASURABLE PUBLICATION IN THE NRC RANKINGS? I know this because my department ran into this problem the last time around, with at least three members of our faculty losing multiple publications because the NRC did not count ITS OWN PUBLICATIONS. If those pubs were excluded, you can imagine that basically all reports in all contexts were excluded. So if administrations love rankings, and rankings hate outreach, you're not going to get much outreach.
- Consider how academic evaluation's over-focus on the number of articles produced creates less interesting, more arcane academic outputs: The production of knowledge in academia has, for some time, been driven by expectations of ever-greater output (as measured in research dollars and publications) with less input (fewer faculty members). These expectations govern everything from the evaluation of departments to individual tenure decisions. As a result, the publication requirements for tenure have become ever-more challenging, with expectations for the number of publications produced rising so steeply that many who recently got tenure might have published more articles than their very senior colleagues published to become full professors even two decades ago. This is driven by everything from departmental-level politics to the NRC rankings themselves, though I suspect a strong trickle-down effect here. In any case, this has created a crisis of knowledge production in which professors are incentivized to produce what my colleague Carl Dahlman once called the minimum publishable unit (MPU). Because expectations of performance are more and more heavily based on quantitative output (thanks, NRC!), as opposed to the quality of that output, it makes sense for faculty to shy away from "big question" articles that might chew up a lot of their data and interesting ideas, and instead package that same set of ideas as two or three smaller, much more arcane publications. This is a very real pressure: when I put out my retheorization of livelihoods approaches a year ago, more than one colleague suggested that I would have been better cutting its 15000 words into two 8500 word pieces, as it would have counted for more in my annual evaluation. Nothing has driven us toward a proliferation of small, specialized journals carrying tiny, arcane articles quite like this drive for quantification and greater production. Undoing this really awful trend would help a lot, as academics would be freed up to think big thoughts again, both in journals and in other fora. One way to help: publicize the alt-metrics movement (start at the LSE Impact Blog and work from there) that attempts to move beyond a system of academic assessment that reflects a long-dead era of publication and communication.
- Focus on how for-profit academic publishers wall off knowledge from the public: Academics must publish to survive professionally, and the best journals in nearly every field are the last profitable properties for a number of publishing houses. These publishers benefit from free labor on the part of authors, reviewers, and the nearly-free labor of editors, and often the subsidy of taxpayer-funded research, yet charge exorbitant amounts for subscriptions to their journals – in the case of public universities, bleeding the taxpayer once again. Academics are absolutely responsible for this situation – after all, we collectively define what the good journals are, and as I've argued before we could change our minds if we wanted to. But academia takes time to change, and could use a push. Where is the push from the federal government to demand that the results of taxpayer-funded research be made available to the taxpayers immediately? What happened to the initial push from the Obama White House on this issue? It seems to be a topic ripe for a good investigative journalist.
And, for good measure, an interesting trend that will likely lead to a more engaged academia:
- The shift in acceptable academic funding: Until very recently, academic grants from traditional agencies like the National Science Foundation or the National Institutes of Health were given exalted status, with all other forms of funding occupying lesser rungs on the great chain of funding. Thus, to get tenure, many (biophysical science/social science) academics really had to land one of these grants. The programs associated with these grants very often rewarded pure research and actively discouraged "applied" work, and even today the NSF's requirements for "impact" are fairly surficial. Contracts were very second-tier, and often not taken seriously in one's academic review. Now, thanks to funding crunches in both universities and the funding agencies, any research-looking dollars have started looking good to university administrations, and contracts are more and more being evaluated alongside more traditional academic grants. There is a tremendous opportunity here to engage academia through this mechanism. [Full disclosure: I've been funded in the past by NSF and by the National Geographic Society, but today roughly 90% of my funding comes directly or indirectly from development donors like USAID in the form of contracts or grants]
This is hardly a comprehensive list of things into which a serious journalist could shed light on, and perhaps help leverage change. I'm just typing quickly here. If you have other ideas for things that journalists should be examining, please leave them in the comments or email them to me: ed at edwardrcarr.com I will append them to this post as they come in, attributing them (or not, depending on the wishes of contributors) in the post.


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Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Music and place - the neglected dimension
Given its affinity with his perennially popular American Quartet, it is surprising that Dvořák's String Quintet is not better known. Both the American Quartet and the String Quintet were composed when the composer was staying in the small Czech settlement of Spillville, Ohio, and my header photo shows a mural in the town commemorating his visit. While Dvořák was in Spillville he attended a ritual performance by visiting North American Indians of the Kickapoo tribe. We can only speculate on how the Quintet was influenced by the music of the Kickapoo, who are survivors of a culture described by Andrew Harvey as 'voices of the first world'. But if that portrayal of an inspired Dvořák in Spillville is accurate, his Quintet was almost certainly the product of what Buddhists call 'fragrant learning'. This is the assimilation of wisdom by unintentional absorption; just as clothing absorbs the fragrance of temple incense, so humans are affected by the atmosphere of a place from simply being there.
Fragrant learning by composers is a recognized phenomenon, with Britten's assimilation of the atmosphere of the Suffolk coast into his music being one of the most celebrated examples. But 'fragrant listening', the influence of the listening environment on the audience, is almost unexplored, although the phenomena of 'toxic listening' – mobile ringtones and coughing during concerts – is well known. It is beyond dispute that one attribute of the listening environment, the hall acoustic, has a significant impact on how music is heard. But other more arcane attributes also have an impact, which means fragrant listening is relevant to the current debate about making classical music more accessible by moving it from concert halls. And given that music via mobile devices is the current big thing, and that music via in car web access will be the next big thing, it is puzzling that the relation between listening and place has been neglected. Two years ago I wrote that "There is clear evidence that classical music struggles to work at more than one remove. It is written for live performance in a concert hall and that is where it works its magic best". More on listening and place here.
Dvořák's String Quintet and Septet in delectable performances by the Raphael Ensemble have been reissued on a budget CD by Hyperion - if these works are not in your collection they should be. Header photo credit is Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra blog. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). No review samples were used in the preparation of this post. Also on Facebook and Twitter.
5 comments:
- Pliable said...
Julia O'Connell has commented via Facebook:
There's a lovely children's book about Dvorak in Spillville, writing of the American Quartet, called Two Scarlet Songbirds; I read it with my young son, who plays violin, in order to introduce him to the Quartet.
- 2:06 pm
- Pliable said...
Could the Spillville mural and the cover of Two Scarlet Songbirds be by the same artist? - there is a certain similarity in style.
- 2:11 pm
- Kalvos said...
One of the problems with geography is what those of us who actually live outside the cities in 'fragrant' places actually experience -- we are from the 'fragrant place', not taking from the 'fragrant place' and depositing it elsewhere as plundered goods. So it is not the dimension that is neglected so much as the composers who exist within that dimension. Even with the Internet (which I've used since 10 years pre-Web), the lack of a city association dismisses our work.
- 4:57 pm
- Pliable said...
Kalvos, it is a good point you make. Here in the UK the media is totally London-centric.
A few days ago I asked whatever happened to classical music's long tail? Similarly I could ask whatever happened to the promise that the internet would level the geographic playing field?
It would be interesting to look at all the promises made for new media and work out how many have actually been delivered.
- 5:21 pm
- Kalvos said...
For a while, the internet made somewhat of a difference. Our early (1995-2005) online radio show helped dozens of composers gain visibility ... and keep it because of their early virtual prominence. But as internet geography began to look more like physical geography -- groups in New York or Berlin or London, with publicity organized in the same urban-associated ways -- then that leveling once again tilted toward density.
The one promise that has been delivered, I think, is availability. The hunt for exclusivity and 'nichiness' actually helps classical/nonpop. Most composers today have already been heard far more than Mozart in his own time, and I would guess most of them are actually listened to with interest.
- 6:50 pm


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Her Warrior Lord
- $4.99
- Published By: eXtasy Books
- Author: Celia Jade
- Page: 250
- Word Count: 62500
- Publication Date: August 18, 2008
- Heat Level:
- Available Formats: Adobe Acrobat, Epub, Hiebook, Microsoft Reader, Mobipocket, Mobipocket (.mobi), Palm DOC/iSolo, Rocket
Kyla Ayslin was confident she would win this year's sword fighting competition at the annual games. Unfortunately, her rival resorts to cruel trickery and has her disqualified and banned from the kingdom for three months. Devastated and frightened, Kyla ends up in the mystical forest of Valhall where she is rescued by a young man, warrior friend to Lord Egan who rules this strange land. Not quite trusting of his new visitor, yet intrigued by her fiery beauty, Egan decides to keep a close watch on her. Complying with Egan's ways does not sit well with Kyla and creates apparent friction between herself and the handsome Lord. A clash of minds, swords and spirits follow as they continuously challenge each other. Will Kyla avenge her rival and restore her good name or stay and succumb to the unmistakable desire Lord Egan has ignited in her?


text:
It seems the Yuuzhan Vong are just screaming for a custom challange since you can make them look anyway you want as long as they are pale and scared up. How about the Yuuzhan Vong for the Challange and Daala/Solo Twins for the Group Project?
Is April's Monthly Challenge:Imperials?or Gladiators?or Yuuzhan Vong?Looks like you guys need a vote or something...
Jeff is there anyway you could create a poll with those 3 choices on there?
Page created in 0.084 seconds with 18 queries.


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|Crude protein min.
|Crude fat min.
|Crude fiber max.
|Moisture max.
|Ash max.
|Calcium min.
|Phosphorus min.
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|Vitamin A min.
|25,000 IU/kg
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|Chondroitin sulfate* min.
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Nutrience Grain Free Subzero Fraser Valley Formula is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Cat Food Nutrient Profiles for all life stages.
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It is important to gradually transition your cat from one food to another. Start with a proportion of 25% Nutrience to 75% old food. Slowly change the proportions over the next 5 to 7 days by gradually increasing the amount of Nutrience and decreasing the amount of the old food.
|Weight of Cat
|1kg/2.2 lbs
(in cups)
1 cup (8oz) = 120g
During gestation, increase portion by 25-50%; during lactation, allow cat to eat at will.


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Make-shift Air Conditioner: How Engineers Can Stay Cool at Work (Maybe)
The winter here in Boston has been very mild so far. A few days I would even have liked to have the air conditioning back on. I checked in with one my colleagues to check if he was having an equally hard time staying cool, and to my surprise, he was not. Why? He had constructed a make-shift air conditioner (A/C).
Make-shift air conditioner: four glasses filled with ice and water standing on a plate housed by a folded piece of cardboard. A small fan is sitting behind the glasses (not shown).
At first sight, this MacGyver-like contraption didn't seem to be an efficient way to cool air. It went against all the principles and tricks I learned during my heat transfer classes back in University. My colleague claimed that once the fan was powered on, this homegrown A/C would provide him with fresh air in less than five minutes. There was no way to measure the temperature of the airflow as I don't typically carry a thermometer around. Hence, the efficiency of the A/C was based on how cold we felt the airstream was. Heat transfer is a fascinating subject, especially when convection is involved. We were not willing to leave the A/C's performance evaluation to subjectivity, so we wondered: can we model it in COMSOL Multiphysics?
Modeling a Make-Shift Air Conditioner
As it turns out, this last-minute air conditioner is another elegant multiphysics example involving heat transfer, fluid flow, and temperature-dependent material properties. I was able to model it in COMSOL, and the verdict is in.
Given the results obtained from the simulation (see the images below) I can now safely say that I was right in questioning the performance of my colleague's homemade A/C. Essentially, the geometry of the cardboard, the shape of the glasses filled with ice, and the operating conditions are not really promoting the heat exchange between the airstream and the cold glasses. For example, the outlet air velocity profile is such that, with respect to the room temperature, the mass-weighted average temperature is not lowered by much.
Streamlines and temperature distribution after 10 minutes.
Isosurface (T=22 °C) and outlet temperature distribution after 10 minutes.
Some Questions for You
Have you ever had to build an emergency air conditioner? Did you come up with a better solution than my colleague? When dealing with simulating thermo-CFD applications, do you usually use the mass-weighted average temperature? Let us know in the comments below!
Ps. If you liked this post, you might also like "Solar Radiation: How Engineers Can Stay Cool on the Beach (Maybe)".
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Juana Molina's voice is airy and lilting and sounds like slightly sad magic, protected by a cushy layer of guitar chords. The Buenos Aires–born singer-songwriter has been touring internationally for over 10 years, playing songs that combine elements of folk and electronica and a little bit of South American jazz.
Molina, who turned 51 yesterday (happy birthday, Libra!), has already led a remarkable life. After a military coup in 1976 established a brutal dictatorship in their native Argentina, Molina's family fled to Paris, where she grew up listening to music from all over the world and honed the guitar style she'd been working on since the age of six (her father, a tango musician, taught her to play). But when she returned to Argentina, her career took a quite different route: comedy television. She landed a role on the incredibly popular TV show La Noticia Rebelde (literally, "the rebellious news") and eventually developed her own sketch show, Juana y Sus Hermanas, which made her a huge star across Latin America.
The whole time, Molina longed to make music—and sometime in the mid-'90s, she found the courage to do so, starting with her 1996 album, Rara ("weird"). She's about to release her sixth album, Wed21 (out October 28 on Crammed Discs), and we are proud to premiere this warm river of a single, "Sin Guia No" ("not without a guide"):
Last week, Molina Skyped me from her house outside Buenos Aires to talk about her artistic process, beauty, and not letting your fears get in the way of your dreams.
JULIANNE: It's been five years since your last record [2008's Un Dia]. Why the break?
JUANA MOLINA: I was touring a lot, and everything I had to say musically felt more or less the same. I wasn't inspired. I just didn't feel like writing.
That happens to everyone, but since being a musician is your job, did you feel extra pressure, or were you OK with taking a break?
There is some pressure, it's true. I was OK until last year, when I said, Well, if I want to keep playing, I should have a new record, so I started to write. Once I started to write it, though, I wasn't feeling it. I was looking for something I hadn't done before, musically. I didn't want to have a record that would follow the path of the previous ones.
Did you worry that you were repeating yourself?
I just felt that I had found a way to write that started with Segundo, which was written in '98. The way I wrote that record led me to a way of playing live: with loops. When I wrote the songs, I wasn't recording the loops—I was just playing parts over and over again because I just felt so much pleasure in playing that little part forever. But live, I couldn't have someone playing the same three notes forever, because I didn't want the [other] musicians to be bored. I was going to shops and begging for a machine that could do that, and one day they said, "We have something that may be what you're looking for." The fact that I found a machine [the Boss RC-20 Loop Station] that thought the exact way I think—it was like having a robot of myself. I couldn't believe it existed. So I was able to adapt the songs for the live show, and it became very easy for me to compose this way, because there was a sympathy between the machine and me that was like…cogwheels. It was really comfortable. That's how I made [the albums] Son [2006] and Un Día [2008]. But I really didn't want to do another record like that. It was too easy.
So how did you write Wed21?
It was very hard, because sometimes I wrote something that didn't sound like me at all, and I wondered, Is this good or is it horrible? One day it was the best thing I ever wrote, and the next day it was the most horrible thing I ever wrote. I was doubting all the time.
Tell me about the cover art.
My friend Alejandro [Ros] and I bought crepe paper in every single color we could find, and he had this idea to wrap me as a colorful mummy. We took a thousand pictures of [me as] the mummy, but the pictures [turned out] too pretty. I looked like an 18-year-old! I honestly don't know how it happened, but I looked like a model. I said, "OK, this is very pretty, but never in my entire life would I put this face on the cover of my record. We will have to go over my dead body to use these pictures." So we decided to erase my face.
That is probably not something that most people would do.
Listen, I would love to be the prettiest girl on the planet and be forever young so that people would turn their heads when i walk. But not in a picture on an album cover.
How do you write best?
I need solitude. If someone else is there, my mind [starts] working, and I need to be completely mind-free while I'm composing. If my mind is working, the record will be crude. My mind works against my creativity. When I'm alone I can do anything, absolutely anything, and if I don't like it I just delete it, and no one would ever, ever know! But if someone is there, I will try to be good all the time and not do silly things. If you don't do silly things, you will never discover anything new. The only way to find your ideas is when you—and only you—are completely convinced. If other people don't like it, you won't care, because you are convinced. The problem is when you doubt and you're not sure within yourself about what you're doing—then you are vulnerable and insecure, and you can become a mess. I know what I'm talking about because I was like that!
How did you get over that?
Well, that's the story of my life. It's something that I still have to deal with. But the thing you have to think about is the time you waste by not doing what you want to do. I think about the many, many years that I wasted because I didn't dare to play music. There's nothing that will repair that. Time has gone. Years pass by. And I started what I always wanted to do 20 years later [than I should have]. Twenty years is a long time. When you're young, you can't understand that. But not doing the things we don't dare to do—it's because we're paying too much attention to what others say. And the question is: Who cares? Because if you don't do it, someone else is gonna do it. And if someone else does or makes a thing you've thought about before and didn't do, you will really hate yourself. You just have to make sure that what you're doing, or thinking of doing, is a true passion, and not something that someone else wants you to do, or something that's just fashionable. But once you discover what you want to do, do it as soon as possible.
Why did you wait 20 years to play music? Were you afraid?
Exactly. Because I couldn't open my mouth in front of people. I was so embarrassed and self-conscious. My hands would shake, my voice would shake. I was afraid to fail—to sing out of tune, to hit the wrong note—so I just didn't dare. I needed to be "perfect." That idea of perfection is what can ruin something in someone. God doesn't allow me to be perfect, because perfection is boring. And in order to learn how to do things, you need to do them!
I finally decided to do it because if I didn't, I was gonna DIE! Honestly, that's what I thought: that I was gonna die if I didn't do what I wanted to do. And when I started doing it, it was even worse than before: I was a grown-up woman, shaking onstage. Plus, by that time I was a TV star whom people admired, and some people would just be on their knees for me. But there I was, shaking onstage. It was very hard. Even talking about it now, I am shaking! It took me years to get it right. Not even to get it right—just to be able to go and do it.
Do you think you had to get older to be able to do that?
No. I think it was just going and doing it. It would have been so much easier if I had started when I was 18, or 20. But even though I did it really late, it's never too late. You know, Nike's slogan is really the best slogan you can ever think about: Just do it! Go and do it! There are no valid excuses [not to]. We see our excuses as real things, but they're just a barrier you built between you and what you want to do because you are afraid to try it and fail. No one wants to fail, but you will never know if you don't try it. Maybe the first few times, you'll have a bad time…but then you won't.
I think there's a little bit more freedom now, though, than when I was young. But I could talk about this forever, because it's one of my favorite topics. I see young girls now being much more open and much less self-conscious than young girls were when I was young. I think beauty has many meanings now. You can be beautiful without being born beautiful—that is, within the plastic parameters of "beauty." I envy that, and I see that in my daughters' friends. They all have their personalities, and when you take that as the most important thing, nothing else matters. I think it's less of a man's world now than it used to be, and many things have changed because of that.
How old is your daughter?
She's 19.
How do you encourage her to be an individual?
I can't encourage my daughter, because everything I tell her is the opposite of what she wants to hear! [Laughs] ♦


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Have you noticed all the interest in gray hair this month? First, Vogue taps quirky model fave Kristen McMenamy to appear in a huge fashion spread shot by David Sims, and then Lady Gaga shows up on the Nick Knight-shot cover of the September issue of Vanity Fair also sporting long, gray tresses. Kelly Osbourne has even been seen around town in a light gray/lavender 'do, adding to the notion that the color isn't just for high-end magazine shoots.
While I absolutely loved the McMenamy shoot and really like the Gaga cover, it's not necessarily easy to pull off this look in real life. So why not just invest in a gorgeous gray bag and call it a day? Here are my Friday favorites for this week:
Chanel Gray Distressed Lambskin Quilted Large Classic Reissue Double Flap Bag. Just a perfect, classic bag in a very chic shade of gray. Want. This. Bag.
Alexander McQueen Flapper Shoulder Bag. The perfect boho chic summer tote. The strap is adjustable for easy cross-body carrying.
Zac Posen Grey Leather Daisy Shoulder Bag. The chunky gold chain and leather detailing make this bag totally unique.


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Interview with Guido van Rossum
Python is the wildly popular, high-level programming language that was recently voted Favorite Scripting Language in the 2008 Linux Journal Readers' Choice Awards. In this interview, Python's creator Guido van Rossum shares his insights about the revolutionary new Python 3000, why the pain from backward incompatibility is worth it, what he foresees for the Python 2.6 fork, and what he's been up to lately at Google.
JG: By the time readers see this interview, Python 3000 (aka Py3K and Python 3.0) should be available. What is in the new version that will excite developers?
GVR: You've probably heard that Python 3000 will introduce backward-incompatible changes. That alone probably is enough to get developers excited, or at least upset. So let me emphasize first that, by and large, Python 3.0 will be the same language you've loved and used before, it's just been cleaned up a bit. You may want to contrast this with Perl 6 vs. Perl 4, where Perl 6 is a totally new language, with a completely different implementation. We're not doing anything remotely as drastic as that!
Many of the cleanups are pretty benign. For example, we're finally getting rid of string exceptions (all exceptions have to be defined as classes). There is a large class of cleanups like this, and I refer your readers to the python.org Web site for the (mostly) boring details.
Some changes seem controversial but actually are a big improvement, such as replacing the print statement with a print() function. The big advantage of making it a function is that we can use the familiar keyword=value syntax to specify behavioral variations like printing to a different file or suppressing the final newline. We also can add new keywords more easily. For example, in Py3k you can override the separator between items, and this makes future evolution much easier compared to evolution of a statement-based syntax. Using standard function syntax also makes it much easier to replace the built-in print function with a function of your own design. This is a common transformation over the lifetime of a program. What started out as simple print statements at some point have to become logging calls or at least redirectable to a different file, and all these changes are easier to make consistently with function calls.
There is one group of changes that is (relatively speaking) revolutionary, and at the same time, it is probably responsible for the most conversion pain, and for the largest sigh of relief. We're adopting a fundamentally different attitude toward Unicode. A bit of history: Python 1 supported only eight-bit strings, which were used for text and binary data alike. Python 2 kept this dual use of eight-bit strings, but added Unicode strings. This was done so as to maintain backward compatibility with Python 1, but it created a new major ambiguity. There were two ways of representing text strings, either as eight-bit strings or as Unicode strings. Moreover, the meaning of eight-bit strings remained ambiguous, as these were used for text as well as binary data.
In Python 3, we're breaking with compatibility and drawing the line differently. There will be a bytes type to be used for binary data (and encoded text, like UTF-8 or UTF-16), and there will be an str type to be used for text only and capable of representing all Unicode characters. The implementation of the bytes type closely resembles that of the old eight-bit string type, and the implementation of the str type is copied from the old Unicode type. The big improvement over Python 2 is that both ambiguities I mentioned above are removed. There is now a 1:1 mapping between usage (data or text) and types (bytes or str). Reports from early adopters have shown that developers really appreciate this change and are happy to pay for it. Some third-party projects, such as Django, already have adopted a convention in Python 2 that essentially is the same. All text is stored in Unicode strings, and eight-bit strings store only binary data, but Python 2 doesn't help enforce this.
There also are some other changes related to Unicode. The default source encoding is now UTF-8, identifiers can contain non-ASCII letters, and the repr() function no longer will turn all non-ASCII characters into hex escapes (it still will escape control characters of course).
JG: In retrospect, do you regret any changes that made it through to the final version?
GVR: No, I'm very happy with the outcome. I think we've struck a phenomenal balance between changing too much and changing too little. It has really helped that toward the end of the Py3k development, we switched to a time-based release schedule, so we had a clear way to stop the never-ending stream of proposals for yet more language improvements.
JG: Python 3000 is currently slower than 2.5. Will it be as fast or faster once it is seriously tuned?
GVR: I expect that by the time 3.0 is released, we'll be close to the 2.5 speed. We'll probably keep tuning it well beyond that, and if past history is any measure of future performance, we'll see continued speed improvements as new releases come out.
JG: Python 3 breaks backward compatibility with version 2.6. This is a pretty bold step for a programming language in general and in particular for one with a user base the size of Python's. The only other time I remember somebody trying this was when Microsoft went from VB6 to VB.NET, a move that has a lot of VB6 programmers still miffed six years later. Do you have concerns regarding this move?
GVR: I think you may have forgotten about Perl 6.
My understanding is that VB.NET was actually fundamentally different from VB6, much more so than Python 3 differs from Python 2. Most of the differences in Python 3 are relatively close to the surface. In particular, we've made a conscious choice not to radically change the underlying implementation. If I understand correctly, VB.NET uses a completely different virtual machine (based on the new .NET technology) from VB6. This is not the case for Python 3. We started Py3k as a branch of the Python 2 VM and gradually modified it to support the new language. But, most implementation details are exactly the same, and up to this date, we routinely merge changes from the trunk (which will be released as Python 2.6) into the Py3k branch.
I certainly don't want to underestimate the cost for developers of the transition from Python 2 to Py3k. We have been thinking about this transition for at least two years now, and we have several parallel strategies in place to make developers comfortable with the change.
First of all, Python 2 will be fully supported for a long time in parallel with Python 3. My personal expectation is that there will be a period of at least three to five years where developers have complete freedom to choose between Python 2 or Python 3, getting the same level of support. There will be new releases of Python 2, starting with 2.6, in parallel with the Python 3 releases.
Second, we have designed a specific two-prong transition strategy. The first prong of this strategy is the release of Python 2.6 simultaneously with the 3.0 release. 2.6 will be backward compatible with 2.5, but it also will contain an optional set of warnings that alert you about a variety of issues in your program that will break if and when you port it to Py3k. These warnings are issued only when specifically requested via a command-line option, so that they are not an impediment toward upgrading from 2.4 or 2.5 to 2.6, regardless of whether you are planning to port your code over to 3.0. In addition, 2.6 also will contain some back-ported 3.0 features, which we hope will encourage people to start using 2.6 in a way that will reduce the pain when they are ready for 3.0.
The second prong of the transition strategy is a source code conversion tool that we call 2to3. This tool handles most of the small syntactic changes you encounter when converting Python 2 code to Py3k. For example, it automatically translates print statements into print() function calls, turns Unicode literals (such as u"...") into regular string literals, strips the trailing L from long integer literals, and so on. It also does a decent (though not perfect) job of converting calls to popular dictionary methods like .keys() and .iterkeys() into their Py3k equivalent.
The two prongs complement each other nicely. The 2to3 tool takes care of the syntactic changes, and the Py3k warnings in Python 2.6 handle those changes that a purely syntactic tool cannot handle easily. Because Python is such a dynamic language, conversions that require information about the type of a variable or attribute generally cannot be automated. The 2to3 tool leaves these alone, but there is enough overlap between the 2.6 and 3.0 languages that, in general, it will be possible to change your source code in such a way that it still is compatible with Python 2.6 (and usually with older versions as well), produces no Py3k warnings, and can be translated safely to valid Python 3.0 source code using the 2to3 tool.
JG: Also, how complex do you think that the upgrade process to Python 3000 will be?
GVR: I think I've given a decent indication of the complexity in my answer to the previous question. The general work flow for a conversion could be as follows:
Start with code that works under Python 2.4 or 2.5 and has a good test suite.
Port to Python 2.6. This should be straightforward. Try to run the test suite under Python 2.6, resolve issues found, and repeat until all tests pass. Python developers have used this process for years with the transition to each Python version, and the expectation is that there won't be many changes to make.
Turn on Py3k warnings and run the test suite again. Resolve issues reported, and repeat until all tests pass without warnings.
Run the 2to3 tool over your source code, including your test suite, and run the converted test suite under Python 3.0. If there are issues, don't fix them here, but fix them in the 2.6 code base, and repeat starting from step 3.
In terms of revision control, you most likely will be maintaining two branches of your code long term: the 2.6 version and the 3.0 version. Changes to the 2.6 version should be merged to the 3.0 version using the 2to3 tool.
JG: What kind of feedback have you gotten from the early adopters of Python 3000 thus far?
GVR: We've heard everything from pure excitement to extreme fear. Given the magnitude of the change, we can't expect everybody to be happy, but the general trend is one of cautious optimism. As expected, most developers are happy with most of the new features. Although almost everyone has a pet peeve or two, those appear to be mostly outliers, and there aren't any changes that stand out as unwanted by many.
JG: Have any large projects already been converted to Python 3000, and what have the results been?
GVR: It's too early to say. We've only just released the first betas of 2.6 and 3.0, and so far, the focus of third-party developers, especially of large packages, has been on 2.6 over 3.0.
JG: Is there a chance that there might be a rogue fork of the 2.x line, and would this bother you?
GVR: I don't expect any "rogue" forks to happen. The Python community tends to prefer consensus over conflict, at least in the long term.
JG: What was the process by which changes were accepted or rejected in the upgrade process?
GVR: We started out by setting some basic parameters for the upgrade, in PEP 3000: the goal was primarily to fix early design mistakes and clean up situations where two ways to do something had evolved out of a desire to improve the language while also maintaining backward compatibility (for example, new-style vs. classic classes). This was a powerful argument to keep many of the more radical change proposals out of the door.
The rest was a matter of long community discussions with the occasional tie-cutting by yours truly in case a consensus remained elusive. I have an incredibly subtle set of gut feelings for judging the most "Pythonic" solution to any one issue, keeping a precarious balance between pragmatics and principles. But, I have tried to use this only after ample discussion had clarified motivations and use cases for proposed changes.
JG: Were there any changes you wanted that were rejected, or any that you didn't want that were accepted?
GVR: That's hard to say. I certainly have proposed things that were rejected, but in the end, I always ended up agreeing with the rejection—and, ditto in the other direction.
JG: How are your synapses currently firing regarding Python 4000 and beyond?
GVR: I hope I'll be in retirement by then!
JG: Our Publisher Emeritus and your old friend Phil Hughes asked me to ask you, "Is Django [the high-level Python Web framework] as cool as it appears?"
GVR: Oh yes, it is. (And hi, Phil!) I like it because it strikes a very Pythonic balance between theory and practice, and because the organization of the project is very similar to that of Python itself. The Django developers run an excellent open-source project, listening carefully to their users and contributors, without being distracted by "feature-itis".
JG: KDE 4.x has abandoned the classic desktop for Plasma, which supports writing scripted add-ons, or applets, in a number of programming languages. Do you see a role for Python in this space?
GVR: This is the first I've heard of this, so I'd rather not make any rash comments. I hope that if Plasma becomes popular, its developer makes it scriptable using Python.
JG: What interesting trends have you seen lately in the development of the Python community?
GVR: I'm very happy with the influx of new developers in the past year or so. This has really enriched the community with new ideas and new areas of expertise, and removed the pressure from some of the old hands who have been keeping things running for many years.
Another, quite unrelated, but also hugely exciting, trend is the activity in the PyPy Project. As you may remember, PyPy started out as an attempt to write a portable Python interpreter in Python, made fast by the use of a Python-specific JIT. Most PyPy developers are in Europe, and with two years of EU (European Union) funding, the project has made tremendous progress. As agreed ahead of time, the EU funding ended after two years, but recently Google has started funding some specific PyPy activities, and I am excited that these will eventually make PyPy a viable alternative to CPython.
JG: You have been working for Google now for almost three years. Can you divulge what they've had you working on, or is it top secret? Also, is Python subject to Google's 80/20 rule—the one that allows employees to spend 20% of their time on personal projects that are potentially worthwhile to the business—or do you have a different arrangement?
GVR: It's no secret that my first Google project was Mondrian, an internal Web tool for collaborative code reviews using Perforce. Since last November, I've been working on Google App Engine, an exciting project that allows Web developers to run scalable Python Web applications on Google's powerful infrastructure. (In the future, other languages also will be supported.)
I have written an App Engine demo that reuses some components of Mondrian and refactors them into a code review tool for Subversion. With Google's permission, I have released this as open source. You can see it working at codereview.appspot.com, and you can find a link to the source code there as well.
I don't have a 20% project per se, but I have Google's agreement that I can spend 50% of my time on Python, with no strings attached, so I call this my "50% project".
JG: Thanks so much for your insights, Guido, and good luck with the new Python!
James Gray is Linux Journal Products Editor and a graduate student in environmental sciences and management at Michigan State University. A Linux enthusiast since the mid-1990s, he currently resides in Lansing, Michigan, with his wife and cats.


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Today our featured blogger is Aisha from Made with Zeal. Make sure you check her blog out and enter any giveaways from past days if you haven't already!
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Windowpane Sweater and Two Faced Giveaway!
Today our featured blogger is Aisha from Made with Zeal. Make sure you check her blog out and enter any giveaways from past days if you haven't already!
34 comments:
I would love to try a new lipstick! I really don't wear color on my lips and I need it! I think I would love to try the shade you are wearing - very pretty and not too drastic. I agree that JCP has some great options now. They have stepped up their game. Pretty sweater! SusanReplyDelete
Love the color combo of this look and your statement necklace! I need to get some new lipsticks! The shade you are wearing is pretty!ReplyDelete
I have really been wanting to try the Lip Injection Color Bomb Plumper in Coral Pop. I would also love to try out the Boudoir Eyes Palette.ReplyDelete
What a cute sweater, love the purple jeans.ReplyDelete
Awesome find on that sweater. Also the lipstick looks great on youReplyDelete
I love that sweater Laura! The geometric print is so fun! I really like the subtle pink on you...not sure if it's for me or not. Then again, I wear lipstick like almost never.ReplyDelete
Love this sweater!ReplyDelete
Amy Ann
The Real Arnolds
I would love to try the Under the Mistletoe lip set. Such pretty colors.ReplyDelete
I love those purple leggings with that gray sweater. Purple and gray is one of my favorite combinationsReplyDelete
That sweater is gorgeous. I love the large window-pane on it. And what a pretty neon yellow necklace (lucky you won it). Also, you look stunning in that up-close photo. I recently picked a lipstick in almost an identical shade to yours and it is currently my favorite, Laura. =)ReplyDelete
I love the look of grey and with the purple it looks great Laura!ReplyDelete
from the link up
please stop by, jess xx
With that name, I'd have to try the Better than Sex mascara!!!ReplyDelete
This is such a cute sweater!ReplyDelete
I have always admire your talent of mixing colors, pattern etc. This look is one great example, soft top contrasting with bright purple, so chic!ReplyDelete
From Jing at www.bejingxu.com
What a great outfit! I love the purple pants. And the yellow necklace is so fun! Also, it sounds like you got quite the deal, which is super awesome!ReplyDelete
That sweater looks so fun with those purple pants! What a cute combo!ReplyDelete
What a cute sweater! Great look :)ReplyDelete
Allie @ LunaVida
That sweater is so cute and I really like those pants!ReplyDelete
Nicole to the Nines
i like the contrast the yellow trim adds to the bottom of your sweater.ReplyDelete
What an adorable sweater!! It looks so cute with your purple pants.ReplyDelete
I became a huge fan of JCP when I lived in Raleigh--there was a big JCPenney across the street from my apartment. I got so many great deals during those two years, haha! I wish I had one close to me now, as their shipping charges are pretty high online.
So true about JCP, but they have gotten better over the years! Adorable sweater, I really like the windowpane pattern!ReplyDelete
i had to enter this giveaway. love too faced!ReplyDelete
I have found so many cute things at JCPenney recently. Love this sweater with the purple pants - very pretty!ReplyDelete
I don't shop at JCP since the mall they are located is just got a poor selection of stores. I love this sweater and what a great deal!ReplyDelete
Hope to see you for TBT Fashion link up.
I'd love to try theReplyDelete
Natural Eyes
Neutral Eye Shadow Collection
I would like to have theReplyDelete
UNDER THE MISTLETOE Lip Cream set.
They really have some cute things!ReplyDelete
Under The Mistletoe set looks perfect!ReplyDelete
Under the Mistletoe set is just right for the holidays!ReplyDelete
I love your purple pants! ! Haha I'm the same way with Christmas. I put things on my Amazon wishlist that i know my family looks at and then sometimes a great sale comes along and I end up getting them for myself instead. Oops!ReplyDelete
I LOVE their products! Their Better than Sex Mascara is amazing & the 3 way lash lining tool is my favorite. I wont use any other eye liner!ReplyDelete
I would like to try the Better Than Sex mascara!ReplyDelete
i would like to try the Under The MistletoeReplyDelete
I want to try theReplyDelete


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Hotel Ombak Sunset is the new addition to the Ombak Group, the sister property of our popular Hotel Vila Ombak on the tropical island of Gili Trawangan.
A haven for those seeking the tranquility of an untouched island, Hotel Ombak Sunset is situated on the quiet western side of the island and is an expression of world class luxury mixed with the unique and exotic style of the surrounding Indonesian islands.
As it's name suggests, Hotel Ombak Sunset boasts a stunning sunset view of the magnificent the Gili Trawangan Sun sinking behind the rolling mountains of Bali.